John Pavlovitz, a former megachurch youth pastor, aggressively railed against President Trump and his supporters, calling the idea that someone can be a “good person” and support Trump an “oxymoron” and describing the MAGA movement as a “death cult” in an essay that went on to characterize the president as “the vile personification” of American ugliness.
For background, Pavlovitz describes himself as a “longtime pastor” and “current author, speaker, activist and storyteller,” and he runs a popular Substack page called “This Beautiful Mess,” in which he primarily rails against President Trump and his supporters. On August 2, 2025, Pavlovitz wrote a brazen essay titled, “No, Good People Don’t Still Support Him,” referring to President Trump, going on to say that the president’s Christian supporters “make excuses” for him and sear their consciences in the process.
Writing on Substack, Pavlovitz said that he often hears people say of a friend or family member, “He or she supports [Trump] but is a really good person.” He went on, “I consider that an oxymoron. I believe aligning with him is fundamentally antithetical to anything good.” Pavlovitz then argued, “This President is not a good human being, and there’s simply no way around this truth.”
Continuing, Pavlovitz opined that “the entire world” is in unanimous agreement on President Trump’s immoral status, “outside of those indoctrinated into his dwindling, sycophantic death cult.” He continued, “What is painfully obvious in these moments isn’t simply that the person alleging to lead this country is a terrible human being; it is that anyone left still defending him, applauding him, justifying him, celebrating him, probably is too.”
Going even further, the writer said that “objectively speaking,” President Trump is “the very worst humanity has produced, a moral bottom-feeder without scruples or conscience or decency.” He then said the president is “the vile personification of the Ugly American, which is why, as long as he is here and as long as he represents and holds power over this nation, we will be a dangerous place, a fractured mess, and a global embarrassment.”
Days later, on August 5, Pavlovitz wrote another essay calling his readers to cut off Trump-supporting friends and family members, saying, “I am not obligated to have unity with hateful people,” and adding, “Active hatred and discrimination are not welcome here, so those who traffic in such things do not deserve a seat where good people gather.” He went on to make the case that people who support Trump are a “barrier” to open discourse, saying that he “may be blocking people on social media or avoiding their presence at holiday gatherings or gradually disconnecting from them.”
Notably, Pavlovitz has previously made the case that the 2024 presidential election was tampered with in President Trump’s favor, going so far as to write on BlueSky, “She won. The Dems didn’t fight for her. It’s a disgrace.” In response, a commenter shot back, “Good grief you are a bunch of spoiled little girls throwing a fit because you didn’t get your way. Grow up.” Another quipped, “Does Kamala know she won?
She conceded pretty quickly… kinda hard to fight for someone who isn’t fighting for themselves.”
Featured image credit: John Pavlovitz via X